The Last Man on the Moon (2014) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The Last Man on the Moon ( 2014 ) 1h 35min Watch Now From $3.99 (SD) on Amazon Video When Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan stepped off the moon in December 1972 he left his footprints and his daughter's initials in the lunar dust. Only now is he ready to share his epic but deeply personal story of fulfillment, love, and loss. Director: Famous Directors: From Sundance to Prominence From Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino and every Coen brother in between, many of today's most popular directors got their start at the Sundance Film Festival . Here's a list of some of the biggest names to go from Sundance to Hollywood prominence.

a list of 37 titles created 03 Aug 2014 a list of 27 titles created 08 Mar 2015 a list of 41 titles created 16 Nov 2015 a list of 45 titles created 16 Dec 2015 a list of 41 titles created 5 months ago Title: The Last Man on the Moon (2014) 7.4/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 2 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards » Videos Edit Storyline When Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped off the moon in 1972 he left his footprints and his daughter's initials in the lunar dust. Only now, forty years later, is he ready to share his epic but deeply personal story. Cernan's burning ambition carried him to the spectacular and hazardous environment of space and to the moon. But there was a heavy price to pay for the fame and privilege that followed.

As his wife famously remarked, 'If you think going to the moon is hard, try staying at home.' 'The Last Man on the Moon' combines rare archive material, compelling Visual FX and unprecedented access to present an iconic historical character on the big screen. Written by Anonymous One man's part in mankind's greatest adventure. Genres: 26 February 2016 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Последний на Луне See more » Box Office $30,880 (USA) (26 February 2016) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia Apollo 10 holds the world / Moon record for the highest speed attained by any manned vehicle at 24,791 mph (39,897 km/h) during its return from the Moon on May 26, 1969. See more » Quotes Eugene Cernan : I often tell young kids and particularly my grandkids, don't ever count yourself out. You'll never know how good you are unless you try. Dream the impossible and go out and make it happen. I walked on the moon. what can't you do?

Performed by 'Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 1' © 2001 Walton Music Corp. (Brazil) – See all my reviews I am REALLY fascinated for all aspects of the moon landings and the Apollo program. I consider these guys real heroes and I am very proud to have had the opportunity to talk with Charles Duke (Apollo 16) even if for a few brief minutes. Having said that, it was with great disappointment that I have watched TLMOTM. I did not feel any excitement, drama. Nothing piqued my attention or curiosity. The whole thing felt like the video version of an obituary. And, curiously, Jack Schmitt, Cernan's partner in the Apollo 17 mission, was nowhere to be seen. That was a very disturbing omission... TLMOTM is only for the completists among us Apollo aficionados. 4 of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Eugene Cernan: Last Man on the Moon Eugene Cernan: Last Man on the Moon By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor | January 16, 2017 04:17pm ET MORE Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. He visited the moon's neighborhood twice, aboard Apollo 10 and Apollo 17, and also did a challenging spacewalk aboard Gemini 9. While he chose not to fly in the shuttle program, Cernan remained involved in space as a motivational speaker and sometime television commentator who worked on ABC broadcasts about the space shuttle. He died on January 16, 2017. From sea cresting to moon cresting Cernan started his career as a basic flight trainee in the Navy, racking up hundreds of aircraft carrier landings and thousands of hours in the air on jet aircraft. His experience earned him a spot in NASA's astronaut corps in October 1963. His first spaceflight was Gemini 9, which had an ambitious agenda. Cernan was tasked to do one of the first American spacewalks, which ended up being immensely difficult as the spacecraft was not designed with enough handholds.

Though exhausted, Cernan completed many of his tasks and provided valuable information for future missions. Cernan next flew into space on Apollo 10 in 1969. In the lunar module Snoopy, he and Tom Stafford skimmed within eight nautical miles on the moon to simulate a lunar landing. All went smoothly until Snoopy was preparing to head back to Charlie Brown. With Snoopy's guidance system inadvertently pointing the wrong way, the confused spacecraft began spinning above the surface. The startled crew fought to get the spacecraft under control, and succeeded in doing so within seconds. "We've got our marbles," Stafford told Mission Control in relief. The pilot's way Cernan was eager to walk on the moon on Apollo 17 , his next assignment; his previous mission had come so close. This time, he was ready to bring his spacecraft all the way – on pilot's terms, of course. "There's no way I'm going to go all the way to the moon, particularly for a second time, and let a computer land me on the moon. The arrogance of a pilot, particularly naval aviators, is too great to allow that to happen," Cernan quipped in a 2007 NASA oral interview .

Cernan and Harrison Schmitt touched down safely on the moon to do three spacewalks while on the surface. With 22 hours and 6 minutes outside, Apollo 17 set the mark for longest extravehicular activity done by one mission on the surface of the moon. Meanwhile, Ron Evans , the command module pilot, set a record for most time orbiting the moon. The mission's greatest discovery came when Schmitt exclaimed that he had found orange regolith, or moon soil. Cernan joked in his autobiography that he feared his crewmate had "overdosed on rocks", but took a look despite his skepticism. The regolith was indeed orange. It turned out to be tiny bits of colored glass that likely came from a surface vent . The Apollo 17 mission commander checks out the rover prior to loadup. Credit: Harrison H. Schmitt. Initials in the dust Just before going back into the lunar module, Cernan drove the lunar rover roughly a mile away so that the video camera could photograph the takeoff the next day.

Next, he knelt and etched his daughter Tracy's initials — T D C — into the dust, according to his autobiography, "The Last Man on the Moon." Years later, Cernan was looking at a painting done by fellow astronaut Alan Bean. It showed the Apollo 17 crew working near a massive boulder they had encountered during their mission. According to Bean's book, "Painting Apollo," Cernan said he wished he had put his daughter's name on the side of the rock. Bean, therefore, included her name on the rock in the painting, which is called "Tracy's Boulder." For all mankind As Cernan prepared to climb up the lunar ladder for the last time, he paused and spoke these words: "As I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus–Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.

Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17." He and his crewmates returned to Earth on Dec. 19, 1972. After Apollo Cernan recalled that he was tempted to fly on the shuttle, and he probably could have flown a couple of the early missions. But after being to the moon, he was not as inclined to do it. That's why he left the agency in 1976, he said. "You wouldn't get me up there to do that. Once you've gone to the moon, staying home just isn't good enough." Cernan left NASA for private business, which included starting the company The Cernan Co. for management and consulting in areas such as aerospace. While he did not fly the shuttle, he did report on it for ABC for a time. He also was chair of the board for Johnson Engineering, a company that specialized in space crew stations. Speaking in his NASA oral interview, Cernan recalled a speech he had given in 1973 about Apollo 17's legacy. Most of his feelings on that hadn't changed three decades later, he said. "I said, 'I've been tired of being called the end.

Apollo 17 is not the end. It's just the beginning of a whole new era in the history of mankind.' Of course at that time I said, 'We're not only going to go back to the moon, we will be on our way to Mars by the turn of the century.' " Additional resource Men Were Last on Moon 40 Years Ago Today Men Were Last on Moon 40 Years Ago Today By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | December 14, 2012 11:45am ET MORE "We're on our way, Houston!" Forty years go, the Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger" lifted off the moon for the final time. Credit: NASA The last men to walk on the moon blasted off its surface for a final time 40 years ago today. After three days exploring the Taurus-Littrow lunar valley, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lit the engine on the upper (ascent) stage of their lunar module "Challenger" and launched off the surface at 5:55 p.m. EST (2255 GMT) on Dec.

14, 1972. The last word spoken by a man on the moon (to date) — "Ignition" — was voiced by Schmitt, the first geologist and professional scientist to fly on a NASA mission. Cernan, as Apollo 17 commander, delivered the order to leave — "Let's get off" — just moments before. (In the four decades since he left the moon, Cernan came to believe his remark was something slightly longer and a whole lot more colorful, "Let's get this mother out of here," although the transcripts and audio recordings disagree.) Footage of that last lunar liftoff was broadcast live back to Earth via a color television camera mounted on the lunar roving vehicle, or lunar rover, which the astronauts parked on the moon a short distance from their landing site. The video, which was timed and directed by Mission Control from a quarter of a million miles away on Earth, captured the small spacecraft as it soared away into the blackness of space. And so ended humankind's first "small steps" on another celestial body.

[ Moon: Space Programs' Dumping Ground (Infographic) ] The Apollo 17 mission crowned six lunar landings for the United States and brought back the final 244 pounds (111 kilograms) of lunar material (including 741 individual moon rock and soil samples and a deep drill core with material from 10 feet, or 3 meters, below the lunar surface) out of the total 842 pounds (382 kilograms) collected by the astronauts who walked on the moon. Notably, among the Apollo 17 lunar samples was a small but unique cache of orange soil, which was confirmed later as microscopic glass beads and fragments formed during volcanic activity on the moon. Return to Earth "As the Challenger leaves the surface of the moon, we are conscious not of what we leave behind, but of what lies before us," read the statement from the White House, as was radioed by Mission Control in Houston to the Apollo 17 astronauts.

"This may be the last time in this century that men will walk on the moon, but space exploration will continue, the benefits of space exploration will continue, and there will be new dreams to pursue, based upon what we have learned." "Few events have ever marked so clearly the passage of history from one epoch to another," the statement, which was signed by President Richard Nixon, concluded. "If we understand this about the last flight of Apollo, then truly we shall have touched a 'many splendored thing.'" The presidential message was radioed soon after the two moonwalkers met up with Ronald Evans, Apollo 17's third member, who had been circling the moon on the command module "America" as Cernan and Schmitt explored below. The trip back to Earth included a spacewalk by Evans to retrieve exposed film from an exterior equipment bay on the America module. Before leaving lunar orbit, the crew jettisoned Challenger's ascent stage, sending it crashing back into the moon. The resulting impact was recorded by seismometers that were deployed by Cernan and Schmitt while on the surface.

Twelve days and 14 hours after launching for the moon , Cernan, Schmitt and Evans splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean at 2:25 p.m. EST (1925 GMT) on Dec. 19, 1972. The USS Ticonderoga aircraft carrier recovered the command module and the astronauts from the sea. Return to the moon For 40 years, Apollo 17 has retained the distinction as the last human voyage to the moon. Schmitt is still the 12th out of only 12 men to step foot on the moon and Cernan, as the last to climb up the ladder into Challenger, is still the final man to leave his footprints on the lunar surface. Before he took his final step off the moon, Cernan said, "America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind." Momentum is now building to return humans to the moon, both through government and commercial efforts.

Schmitt says that if he had the opportunity today to revisit Taurus-Littrow , he would return to the site where he found the orange soil and then venture to an area where he and Cernan didn't explore. "I would want to go back to Shorty Crater and spend more time really trying to define the geological context of the orange soil that we found and sampled," the moonwalker told collectSPACE.com in an recent interview. "The other thing though, would be to go to the area that was northeast of the landing site, an area we called the 'Sculptured Hills' and really try to traverse across those hills and gather as many different kinds of rock samples as we could possibly do," Schmitt said, explaining that the insight gained over the past 40 years now suggests the Hills may be "a very large, relatively coherent piece of deep crust" that was thrown from an impact basin. Ultimately though, Schmitt said he would look beyond his old landing site for the next steps on the surface. "Given the chance to go back to Taurus Littrow, I would probably argue that there are more important places to go right now, as we do have samples and observations from [there]," Schmitt said.

"The thing I'd like to see us sample is the older [impact] basins. We know they are older but we do not know how much older they are." Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter @ collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @ robertpearlman . Copyright 2012 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved. Eugene Cernan: The Official Website of the Last Man on the Moon Watch Capt. Cernan talk about Obama NASA budget cuts on "Cavuto" Fox News Channel It was May 22, 1969 when Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford and John Young made history on Apollo 10. While Young orbited in the Command Module ("Charlie Brown"), Cernan and Stafford flew the Lunar Module ("Snoopy") to within 50,000 feet of the moon's surface. Read more. The very successful mission prepared the way for America's first moon landing on July 20, 1969. Apollo 10 made history and captured the world's imagination. To commemorate the 40th anniversay of the mission the Charles M Schulz museum created the exhibit "To the Moon".

It takes a looks at the history of the mission, the Peanuts characters' role in that flight and in the NASA Manned Flight Awareness safety program. It also features a one-third scale model of the Apollo command module from the Johnson Space Center, an Apollo-era flight suit, the actual image of Charlie Brown that flew aboard Apollo 10, and a special children's area for creative play. Capt. Cernan and Gen. Stafford were on hand at the Museum for the inauguration of the special exhibition which was once on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. For more info on where the exhibition is now touring, click here. Captain Eugene A. Cernan holds the distinction of being the last man to leave his footprints on the moon. He now speaks about his experiences at selected events around the world. During 20 years as a Naval Aviator, including 13 years with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Captain Cernan left his mark on history with three historic missions in space as the Pilot of Gemini IX, the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo X, and the Commander of Apollo XVII. He was also the second American to walk in space.

More "Space and aviation have been sources of inspiration and romance for more than 100 years. The U.S. desperately needs to do something to recapture the pioneering spirit that allowed it go to the Moon. America must find a way to instill in its children the desire to launch expeditions into the unknown--to breach what today seems impractical or even impossible. If I can call the Moon my home long before today's generation of young adults were even born, then I challenge them and their children to tell me what in their lifetime is impossible." - Captain Eugene A. Cernan The 12 Men Who Walked on the Moon | Mental Floss The 12 Men Who Walked on the Moon NASA / Harrison H. Schmitt Like us on Facebook If you were born after the Apollo program, and maybe even if you remember those days, it seems almost unbelievable that NASA sent manned missions to the moon 239,000 miles away. People continue to express sadness at the fact that the Apollo lunar missions were so long ago, and that soon there will be no one left alive who actually went to the moon.

Randall Munroe of xkcd addressed that concept some time ago, although we are ahead of that game in that no lunar astronaut has died since Neil Armstrong passed away in 2012. It's time we remembered -or got to know- the only twelve people who ever walked on a body other than planet Earth. 1. Neil Alden Armstrong Navy test pilot, engineer, and Korean War veteran Neil Armstrong left the Navy in 1952, but continued in the Naval Reserve. He worked as an experimental test pilot for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) beginning in 1955, which evolved into NASA. Armstrong was assigned as an astronaut in 1962, and flew on the Gemini 8 mission in 1966, where he performed the first successful space docking procedure. Armstrong was selected to be the first man to walk on the moon, as the Apollo 11 mission was planned, for several reasons : he was the commander of the mission, he didn't have a big ego, and the door of the lunar lander was on his side.

Although the first steps on the moon are what he will always be known for, Armstrong considered the mission's biggest accomplishment was landing the lunar module . He later said , Pilots take no special joy in walking: pilots like flying. Pilots generally take pride in a good landing, not in getting out of the vehicle. Armstrong along with his crew were honored with parades, awards, and acclaim after their return to Earth, but Armstrong always gave credit to the entire NASA team for the Apollo moon missions. He resigned from NASA in 1971 and became a professor of of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati for eight years. Armstrong served on the boards of many corporations and foundations, but gradually withdrew from publicity tours and autograph signings. He didn't particularly care for fame. Neil Armstrong died on August 25, 2012, at age 82. His family released a statement that concluded: “For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.” 2.

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin After graduating third in his class at West Point in 1951 with a degree in science, Buzz Aldrin flew 66 combat missions as an Air Force pilot in the Korean War. Then he earned a PhD at MIT. Aldrin joined NASA as an astronaut in 1963. In 1966 he flew in the Gemini 12 spacecraft on the final Gemini mission. Aldrin accompanied Neil Armstrong on the first moon landing in the Apollo 11 mission, becoming the second person, and now the first of the living astronauts, to set foot on the moon. Aldrin had taken a home Communion kit with him, and took Communion on the lunar surface , but did not broadcast the fact. Aldrin retired from NASA in 1971 and from the Air Force in 1972. He later suffered from clinical depression and wrote about the experience, but recovered with treatment. Aldrin has co-authored five books about his experiences and the space program, plus two novels. Aldrin continues to work to promote space exploration. Buzz Aldrin is 85 years old. 3.

Charles "Pete" Conrad Pete Conrad was a Princeton graduate and Navy test pilot before entering the astronaut corps in 1962. He flew on the Gemini V mission and was commander of Gemini XI. Conrad was commander of the Apollo 12 mission, launched during a lightning storm which temporarily knocked out the command module's power shortly after liftoff. When Conrad stepped onto the moon, he said, Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me. Conrad later flew on the Skylab 2 mission as commander with the first crew to board the space station. He retired from NASA and the Navy in 1973, after which he worked for American Television and Communications Company and then for McDonnell Douglas. Pete Conrad died on July 8, 1999 in a motorcycle accident. He was 69. 4. Alan L. Bean Apollo astronaut Alan Bean was the fourth man to walk on the moon, during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969. He was the lunar module pilot. Bean was also the commander of the Skylab Mission II in 1973, which spent 59 days in flight.

Altogether, Bean logged 1,671 hours and 45 minutes in space. Bean is the only artist to have visited another world, so his paintings of the lunar environment have the authenticity of an eyewitness. He retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain, but continued to train astronauts at NASA until 1981, when he retired to devote time to his art. See those paintings at Bean's online gallery , and stories that accompany each one. Alan Bean is now 83 years old. 5. Alan Shepard Alan Shepard was a bona-fide space pioneer who cemented his spot in history long before the Apollo program. A U.S. Navy test pilot, he was selected as one of the original Mercury astronauts in 1959. Shepard was the first American launched into space aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961. His suborbital flight reached an altitude of 116 miles. Barred from flight during the Gemini program because of an inner ear problem, Shepard had the problem fixed surgically and was assigned as commander of the Apollo 14 mission to the moon.

He was responsible for the most accurate lunar module landing ever, and spent 9 hours and 17 minutes exploring the moon's surface outside the module. During that time, he famously knocked a couple of golf balls with a six-iron attached to his sample-collecting tool. With one arm (due to the space suit), he managed to drive further than professional golfers on Earth could ever hope to, thanks to the moon's lower gravity. Before and after his Apollo mission, Shepard served as Chief of the Astronaut Office. He retired from NASA and the Navy in 1974, having achieved the rank of Rear Admiral. Shepard went into private business, serving on the board of several corporations and foundations. He founded Seven Fourteen Enterprises, an umbrella corporation named after his two space missions. Shepard wrote a book with Deke Slayton, Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon . Shepard compared his book to The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe, saying , "'We wanted to call ours 'The Real Stuff,' since his was just fiction.'' Alan Shepard died on July 21, 1998 at the age of 74. 6. Edgar D.

Mitchell Ed Mitchell joined the Navy in 1952 and became a test pilot. Then he earned a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. NASA selected him for the astronaut corps in 1966. In January of 1971, Mitchell flew on Apollo 14 as lunar module pilot, becoming the sixth man to walk on the lunar surface. He retired in 1972 and founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences , which explores psychic and paranormal events. Mitchell gained some notoriety after NASA for his views on UFOs , as he has asserted that the government is covering up evidence at Roswell. His information, he admits, comes secondhand from various sources. Ed Mitchell is 84 years old. 7. David Randolph Scott David Scott joined the Air Force after graduating from West Point. Selected as an astronaut in 1963, he flew with Neil Armstrong on the Gemini 8 mission and was command module pilot on Apollo 9. Scott then went to the moon on Apollo 15, which landed on the lunar surface on July 30, 1971. It was the first mission to land near mountains.

Scott and Jim Irwin spent 18 hours exploring the lunar landscape in the Lunar Roving Vehicle in the first mission to use such a vehicle to travel on the moon. Scott became famous for the "postage stamp incident," in which he took unauthorized postage stamp covers to the moon with the intent to sell them afterwards. NASA had turned a blind eye to such activities before, but publicity over the matter caused them to discipline Scott and he never flew again. Scott retired from NASA in 1977 and served as a consultant for several movies and TV shows about the space program. He also wrote a book with former cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race . David Scott is 82 years old. 8. James B. Irwin Air Force test pilot James Irwin became an astronaut in 1966. He was the lunar module pilot for Apollo 15 in 1971. His 18.5 hours of lunar surface exploration included gathering many samples of rocks. The astronauts' medical conditions were being monitored from Earth, and they noticed Irwin developing symptoms of heart trouble .

As he was breathing 100% oxygen and under lower gravity than on Earth, mission control decided he was in the best environment possible for such irregularity -under the circumstances. Irwin's heart rhythm was normal by the time Apollo 15 returned to Earth, but he had a heart attack a few months later. Irwin retired from NASA and the Air Force (with the rank of Colonel) in 1972 and founded the High Flight Foundation in order to spread the Christian gospel during the last twenty years of his life. He notably took several groups on expeditions to Mt. Ararat to search for Noah's Ark. James Irwin died on August 8, 1991, of a heart attack. He was 61 years old. 9. John Watts Young John Young is so far the longest serving astronaut in NASA history. He was selected as an astronaut in 1962 and his first space flight was in 1965 aboard Gemini 3 with Gus Grissom. He achieved some notoriety at that time by smuggling a corned beef sandwich onto the flight, angering NASA.

But Young went on to complete a total of six space missions in the Gemini, Apollo, and the space shuttle programs. He orbited the moon on the Apollo 10 mission, then was commander of the Apollo 16 mission and became the ninth person to walk on the moon. Young was also commander of the first space shuttle flight in 1981 and returned for shuttle flight 9 in 1983, which deployed the first Spacelab module. Young was also scheduled for another space shuttle flight in 1986, which was delayed after the Challenger disaster, so the veteran astronaut never made his seventh flight. Young finally retired from NASA after 42 years of service in 2004. John Young is 84 years old. 10. Charles M. Duke Jr. Astronaut Charles Duke was capcom during the Apollo 11 mission. His is the voice you recall saying , "Roger, Twank... Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot!" when the lunar module landed on the moon.

Duke also made history by catching German measles while training in the backup crew for the Apollo 13 mission , exposing the crew to the disease and causing Ken Mattingly to be replaced by Jack Swigart on that terrifying spaceflight. Duke went to the moon (with Mattingly as command module pilot) on the Apollo 16 mission in April of 1972. He retired from NASA in 1975 having reached the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force, and founded Duke Investments. Duke also became a Christian and a lay minister to prison inmates. Charles Duke is 79 years old. 11. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt Jack Schmitt was a geologist first, and trained as a pilot only after becoming a NASA astronaut. In fact, he was only the second civilian to fly into space, after Neil Armstrong, who was a veteran at the time of his flights.

Schmitt was assigned to fly to the moon on the Apollo 18 mission, but when the Apollo 18 and 19 missions were cancelled in September of 1970, the scientific community lobbied to have Schmitt reassigned to Apollo 17 (replacing Joe Engle) as lunar module pilot. He was the first scientist in outer space . On the Apollo 17 mission, he and Gene Cernan spent three days on the lunar surface (a record) and drove their Lunar Roving Vehicle around collecting samples, conducting experiments, and leaving measuring instruments behind. Schmitt and Cernan gathered 250 pounds of lunar material to take back. After resigning from NASA in 1975, Schmitt, a Republican, was elected Senator for New Mexico and served from 1977 to 1983. He became an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and lives in Silver City, New Mexico. In recent years, Dr. Schmitt's scientific background and political leanings have kept him in the spotlight as he has said that the concept of climate change is "a red herring," and that environmentalism is linked with communism .

Schmitt is 79 years old. 12. Eugene A. Cernan As a Navy pilot, Gene Cernan logged over 5,000 hours flying time. He was accepted into the astronaut program in 1963. Cernan's first space flight was on Gemini IX in 1966, in which he conducted extravehicular activities (a space walk), followed by the Apollo 10 mission in May of 1969, which orbited the moon. Cernan was assigned commander of the Apollo 17 mission before anyone knew it would be the last Apollo mission. Even after the Apollo program was cut, no one knew for sure that travel to the moon would be abandoned for decades. When Schmitt and Cernan boarded their lunar module for the last time on December 13th, 1972, Cernan said , "I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come — but we believe not too long into the future — I'd like to just [say] what I believe history will record.

That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17." Cernan retired from the Navy and from NASA in 1976. He went on to found an aerospace technology firm, and wrote a book about his experiences as an astronaut. He also contributed his talents to ABC-TV as a commentator during shuttle flights and has made appearances on various space specials. In September of 2011, Cernan testified before Congress on the future of the space program. The space program has never been an entitlement, it's an investment in the future - an investment in technology, jobs, international respect and geo-political leadership, and perhaps most importantly in the inspiration and education of our youth. Those best and brightest minds at NASA and throughout the multitudes of private contractors, large and small, did not join the team to design windmills or redesign gas pedals, but to live their dreams of once again taking us where no man has gone before. Gene Cernan is now 81 years old.

More from mental_floss... Apollo 17 (AS-512) | National Air and Space Museum Apollo 17 (AS-512) The Last Manned Lunar Landing Apollo 17 was the last Apollo mission to land men on the Moon. It carried the only trained geologist to walk on the lunar surface, lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt. Compared to previous Apollo missions, Apollo 17 astronauts traversed the greatest distance using the Lunar Roving Vehicle and returned the greatest amount of rock and soil samples. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, still holds the distinction of being the last man to walk on the Moon, as no humans have visited the Moon since December 14, 1972. Summary of Events The successful Apollo 17 manned lunar landing mission was the last in a series of three J-type missions planned for the Apollo Program. The J-type missions have been characterized by extended hardware capability, by a scientific payload larger than the previous G- and H-series missions and by use of a battery powered lunar roving vehicle (LRV).

As a result of these additions, the Apollo 17 mission had a duration of 12.6 days, and a time on the lunar surface of 75 hr with a total surface traverse distance of approximately 35 km. The Saturn V carrying Apollo 17 was launched from NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center at 05:33:00 UT on December 7, 1972 (11:33:00 p.m. CST on December 6, 1972). View of Apollo 17 Landing SiteThe landing site was on the southeastern rim of Mare Serenitatis in a dark deposit between massif units of the southwestern Montes Taurus. Scientific objectives included geological surveying and sampling of materials and surface features in a preselected area of the Taurus-Littrow region, deploying and activating surface experiments, and conducting inflight experiments and photographic tasks during lunar orbit and transearth coast. Lunar orbit insertion, executed at 19:47:23 GMT on December 10, placed the spacecraft into a lunar orbit of 170.0 by 52.6 nautical miles.

Following a nominal descent sequence, the spacecraft landed at 19:54:57 GMT on December 11 in a valley at Taurus-Littrow, less than 200 m from the preferred landing point. The first lunar surface EVA began at 23:54:49 GMT on December 11, with Cernan stepping out of the spacecraft at 00:01:00 GMT on December 12. Deployment of the Apollo lunar-surface experiments package (ALSEP) and the cosmic ray experiment took place during EVA-1. Duration of this EVA was 7 hr 12 min. Schmitt collects samplesThe second EVA began at 23:28:06 GMT on December 12. Using the LRV, samples from Nansen Crater, Lara Crater and others were collected. Traverses, core samples and trenches were dug at different stations. This EVA lasted 7 hr 37 min. Lunar Roving VehicleDuring EVA-3, sampling stops were made and traverse gravimeter measurements were taken. Additional explosive packages for the Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment were also deployed.

One of the final science activities was the retrieval of the neutron flux probe from the deep drill core hole. The third EVA ended at 05:40:56 GMT on December 14. TV View of LM liftoffThe LM ascent stage lifted off the Moon at 22:54:37 GMT on December 14. Lift-off and ascent were recorded by the ground-commanded television assembly on the LRV. After docking with the CSM, the ascent stage was sent back to the lunar surface. Its impact was recorded by the four Apollo 17 geophones and by each ALSEP at the Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 landing sites. From NASA SP-330, Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report and Apollo 17 Press Kit, Release No: 72-220K Armstrong walks on moon - Jul 20, 1969 - HISTORY.com Armstrong walks on moon Publisher A+E Networks At 10:56 p.m.

EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy’s bold proposal. In 1966, after five years of work by an international team of scientists and engineers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the first unmanned Apollo mission, testing the structural integrity of the proposed launch vehicle and spacecraft combination.

Then, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a fire broke out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket. Three astronauts were killed in the fire. Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the dark side of the moon and back, and in March 1969 Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit. Then in May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, with the world watching, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. Armstrong, a 38-year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission.

After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a famous message: “The Eagle has landed.” At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. As he made his way down the lunar module’s ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation.

At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” He then planted his left foot on the gray, powdery surface, took a cautious step forward, and humanity had walked on the moon. “Buzz” Aldrin joined him on the moon’s surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module.

Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.” At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24. There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars).

The expense was justified by Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their viability. Related Videos Apollo 17 - Last trip to the moon - Pictures - CBS News Last trip to the moon Next Apollo 17 The crew of the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission -- Eugene A. Cernan (seated), commander; Ronald E. Evans (standing on right), command module pilot; and Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot -- in front of the The Apollo 17 Saturn V space vehicle at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Sept. 1972. Dec. 13, 2013 marks the 41st anniversary of the last moonwalk. Apollo 17 crew members Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt began their final surface mission at 10:25 p.m. Dec. 13, 1972. The moonwalk eneded early in the morning on Dec. 14. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Astronaut Eugene A.

Cernan stands near an over-hanging rock during the third Apollo 17 lunar surface extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, Dec. 13 , 1972. Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt took this photograph. The tripod-like object just outside the shaded area is the gnomon and photometric chart assembly which is used as a photographic reference to establish local vertical sun angle, scale and lunar color. The gnomon is one of the Apollo Lunar Geology Hand Tools. While astronauts Cernan and Schmitt descended in the Lunar Module "Challenger" to explore the moon, astronaut Ronald E. Evans remained with the Apollo 17 Command and Service Modules in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon in the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. This sharp image was taken by Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the valley floor. The image shows Schmitt on the left with the lunar rover at the edge of Shorty Crater, near the spot where geologist Schmitt discovered orange lunar soil.

The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than was returned from any of the other lunar landing sites. Now forty years later, Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk on the Moon. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Near the beginning of their third and final excursion across the lunar surface, Harrison Schmitt took this picture of Eugene Cernan flanked by an American flag and their lunar rover's umbrella-shaped high-gain antenna. The prominent Sculptured Hills lie in the background while Schmitt's reflection can just be made out in Cernan's helmet. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 This view of the Apollo 17 landing site in the Taurus-Littrow valley was captured by the Lunar Clear, dual lunar rover tracks and the foot trails left by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, the last to walk on the lunar surface, are also easily visible at the Apollo 17 site. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger was designed for flight in the vacuum of space. This picture from command module America, shows Challenger's ascent stage in lunar orbit.

The hatch allowing access to the lunar surface is seen at the front, with a round radar antenna at the top. Mission commander Gene Cernan is just visible through the dark, triangular window. This spaceship performed gracefully, landing on the Moon and returning the Apollo astronauts to the orbiting command module in December 1972. The Challenger's descent stage remains at the Apollo 17 landing site, Taurus-Littrow. The ascent stage was intentionally crashed nearby after being jettisoned from the command module prior to the astronauts' return to planet Earth. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot, collects lunar rake samples at Station 1 during the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, Dec. 11, 1972. This picture was taken by astronaut Eugene Cernan, commander. The lunar rake, an Apollo lunar geology hand tool, is used to collect discrete samples of rocks and rock chips ranging in size from one-half inch to one inch. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 A wide-angle view of the Apollo 17 Taurus-Littrow lunar landing site.

To the left in the background is the Lunar Module. To the right in the background is the Lunar Roving vehicle. An Apollo 17 crewmember is photographed between the two points. The shadow of the astronaut taking the photograph can be seen in the right foreground. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed seated in the Lunar Roving Vehicle at the Van Serg Crater during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. This photograph was taken by astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander. Schmitt, lunar module pilot, and Cernan explored the moon while astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 One of the Apollo 17 crew took this picture of a large boulder field during lunar surface extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt is photographed working beside a huge boulder at Station 6 during the third Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, Dec.

13, 1972. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander, makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, Dec. 11, 1972. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 17 mission commander, makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, Dec. 11, 1972. Credit: NASA Apollo 17 Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last humans to walk or ride on the Moon - aided in their explorations by a Lunar Roving Vehicle. Upon leaving Cernan said: "As I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I'd like to just (say) what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow.

And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus–Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17." Credit: NASA Apollo 17 To mark the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission and the famous “Blue Marble” full Earth image, Goddard Space Flight Center’s Visualization and Analysis Lab rendered a new visualization inspired by the mission. This view, constructed from observations made from NASA, USGS and Space Imaging Inc. mission, is intended to recall the famous “Blue Marble” Earth image of South Africa and Antarctica taken by Apollo 17 on Dec. 7, 1972. Credit: NASA

Question: Who was the last man to walk on the Moon
Answer: Eugene